Did former special counsel Jack Smith release all his files on Trump? Here's the truth

On Jan. 19, 2026, posts on Facebook appeared claiming that former special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed to oversee the Justice Department's investigations into U.S. President Donald Trump's involvement in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election through the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and alleged mishandling of classified documents, had unexpectedly released all of his files on Trump.

One post, shared to a page named "STAR News," began:

BREAKING NEWS: JACK SMITH PUBLICLY DUMPS ALL TRUMP FILES 40 MINUTES AGO — Shocking Uploads Ignite Panic in Washington as Secrets Spill!
In a shocking turn that detonated through D.C., Special Counsel Jack Smith unleashed every Trump-linked file in his arsenal—publicly uploading explosive materials that sent Jim Jordan and Donald Trump into reported frenzy, scrambling for cover.

(Facebook page STAR News)

Some of the posts sharing the claim featured links in top comments leading to articles hosted by WordPress blogs, such as one story hosted on the northwavenews.com website.

Snopes readers searched the site and emailed us looking for more information about the supposed document release.

We found there was no evidence to support the claim that Smith had released all of his documents on Trump. Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no news media outlets reporting about Smith's document release. Given the scale of the supposed release, reliable news outlets would have certainly covered the story if it was true. Additionally, although the posts and articles claimed Smith publicly uploaded the files, we found no website or repository hosting them.

As a result, we've rated the claim false. We contacted the Department of Justice for comment on the rumor, but had not received a response at time of publication.

The story's creators likely aimed to earn advertising revenue through the social media platforms and their accompanying websites by capitalizing on the recent news that Smith had testified privately before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in December 2025 and was scheduled to testify publicly on Jan. 22, 2026. Although Smith's December testimony took place behind closed doors, the House Oversight Committee released transcripts and videos of Smith's testimony online, according to NPR and the BBC.

In that testimony, Smith said he concluded that Trump was the "most culpable and most responsible person" for the events of Jan. 6, 2021, primarily the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.